Report: FSU and FAMU to open 2026-27 basketball season

TALLAHASSEE, FL - OCTOBER 22: Head Coaches Luke Loucks of the Florida State Seminoles and Charlie Ward of the Florida A&M Rattlers talk prior to their joint press conference about their up and coming game at the Moore Athletic Center on the campus of Florida State University on October 22, 2025 in Tallahassee, Florida. The preseason exhibition game will be the first game against each other since December 1991, when the teams were involved in a brawl that led to multiple ejections from both sides. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Florida State and Florida A&M, after taking the first steps towards renewing its cross-town series last season, will open the 2026-27 season against each other in Tampa.

The news was first reported by Mark Long of the Associated Press, who says the matchup will be played in Tampa as part of a doubleheader that includes Florida taking on Miami.

The two programs faced off in an exhibition matchup last season, the first on-court action between the two schools since an ill-fated 1991 game that was ended by forfeit after a brawl broke out following a layup by then-FSU player and current FAMU head coach Charlie Ward.

The Rattlers went 15-16 (11-7 SWAC) in Ward’s first season, finishing tied for second in the SWAC and falling three points short of making the conference tournament title game.

The last fully played matchup in the series occurred on December 7, 1982 — an 81-79 Florida State win.